Biblical
Support for Deification

Don’t you know that your
doctrine of becoming Gods
isn’t Biblical? In fact, it's just the original lie told by Satan
in the Garden of
Eden. Genesis 3:4 says "You will not surely die," the
serpent
said to the woman. "For GOD knows that when you eat of it your eyes
will be opened,
and you will be like GOD , knowing good and evil." It sounds like the
same lie, when
we are told by Mormon missionaries that you are working your way to
godhood.

What do the Latter-day Saints really
believe about God?
Is it true that they believe man can become as God?

First, you need to read the rest of
Genesis chapter 3.
In Genesis 3:22, it states "And the LORD God said, Behold, the
man is
become as one of us, to know good and evil... ".
Therefore, as the Lord
himself says, Satan told Eve a half-truth. The Adversary lied when he
said that Eve would
"not surely die", but he told the truth when he said that she would
become
"like God, knowing good and evil."

To spread the false notion that Latter-day Saints do not show proper
reverence towards the
Godhead, anti-Mormons often
tell people that Latter-day Saints believe that they will become
co-equal, or on the same
level, with God and no longer worship him. This misrepresentation is a
twisting of an LDS
doctrine called exaltation, a doctrine which the Bible clearly teaches.

Latter-day Saints believe our Heavenly Father has given us this
mortal life to become
more like him. Those who are true and faithful in all things will sit
in the throne of
Christ. (Rev 3:21) They will have the name of God the Father placed
upon them (Rev 14:1)
We believe that they shall be "heirs of God, and joint-heirs of Christ"
(Rom
8:17). What shall the faithful inherit? ALL THINGS according to
scripture (Heb 1:2) (See Heirs
of God and Joint-Heirs with Christ)

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your
Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)

"For I [am] the LORD that bringeth you up out
of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be
holy, for I [am] holy." (Leviticus 11:45)

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we
shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." (1 John
3:2)

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the
works that I do shall he do also; and greater [works] than
these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." (John
14:12)

We call anyone who sits in the throne of God, has God's name and
attributes, and who
has inherited all things (i.e. - power, dominion, knowledge) from
God-----a god.

Hence the scripture, "God standeth in the congregation of the
mighty; he judgeth
among the gods....I have said, Ye are gods;
and
all of you are children of the most High." Psalms (82:1,6)

While we believe that the faithful will enjoy a life similar to our
Heavenly Father, we
also believe we will still be subject to and worship the God of Heaven,
which is
represented as the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Furthermore, while we will
be "gods, even the sons of God" (D&C 76:58), we will never be at
the same
level as them or stop worshipping them, but we will be like them and
enjoy a quality of
life similar to theirs.

by Robert L. Millet

Latter-day Saints believe that we come to the earth to take a
physical body, to be
schooled and trained and gain experiences here that we could not have
in the premortal
life, and then to seek to grow in faith and spiritual graces until we
can qualify to go
where God and Christ are. But they believe that eternal life consists
in more than being
with God; it entails being like God. A study of the Christian church
reveals that the
doctrine of the deification of man was taught at least into the fifth
century by such
notables as Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Justin Martyr, Athanasius,
and Augustine.
Latter-day Saints would probably not agree with most of what was taught
about deification
by the early Christian church leaders, because they believe that many
of the plain and
precious truths concerning God and man had been lost by then. But I
mention this to
illustrate that the idea was not foreign to the people of the early
church; the names
mentioned were not pagan or Gnostic spokesmen but Christian.

The Latter-day Saint belief in man becoming as God is not dependent
upon the early
Christian concept, or upon such popular modern Christian thinkers as C.
S. Lewis, who
taught this notion. In the vision of the hereafter given to Joseph
Smith, described in
chapter 5, is found this description of those who attain the highest or
celestial glory:
"Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God."
(D&C
76:58.) Godhood comes through the receipt of eternal life. Eternal life
consists of two
things: (1) the continuation of the family unit in eternity; and (2)
inheriting,
receiving, and being endowed with the fullness of the spirit and power
of the Father.
(D&C 132:19-20.) Latter-day Saints do not believe they will ever,
worlds without end,
unseat or oust God the Father or Jesus Christ. Those holy beings are
and forever will be
the Gods men and women worship. Men and women, like Christ, are made in
the image and
likeness of God, that it is not robbery to be equal with God
(Philippians 2:6), and that
like any father, our Heavenly Father wants his children to become and
be all that he is.
Spiritual growth to this lofty plain is not something that comes merely
through hard work,
though men and women are expected to do their best to keep their
covenantal obligations.
Deification is accomplished finally through the grace and goodness of
Jesus Christ, who
seeks that all of us might become joint heirs, co-inheritors with him,
to all the Father
has. (Romans 8:14-18.)

The Mormon Faith: A New Look at Christianity
Copyright by Deseret Book

Joseph Smith's First Vision represents the beginning of
the revelation of
God to man in this dispensation. We will no doubt spend a lifetime
seeking to understand
the doctrinal profundity of that theophany. This appearance of the
Father and Son in
upstate New York had the effect of challenging those creeds of
Christendom out of which
the doctrine of the Trinity evolved-a doctrine that evolved from
efforts to reconcile
Christian theology with Greek philosophy. President Gordon B. Hinckley
has observed:

"To me it is a significant and marvelous thing that
in establishing and opening this dispensation our Father did so with a
revelation of himself and of his Son Jesus Christ, as if to say to all
the world that he was weary of the attempts of men, earnest though
these attempts might have been, to define and describe him. . . . The
experience of Joseph Smith in a few moments in the grove on a spring
day in 1820, brought more light and knowledge and understanding of the
personality and reality and substance of God and his Beloved Son than
men had arrived at during centuries of speculation."

By revelation Joseph Smith came to know that the
Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost constitute the Godhead. From the beginning the Prophet Joseph
taught that the
members of the Godhead are one in purpose, one in mind, one in glory,
one in attributes
and powers, but separate persons.

God is the Father of the spirits of all men and women
(Numbers 16:22;
27:16), the source of light and truth, the embodiment of all godly
attributes and gifts,
and the supreme power and intelligence over all things. From the Book
of Moses we learn
that among the ancients God the Father was called "Man of Holiness,"
and thus
his Only Begotten Son is the Son of Man of Holiness, or the Son of Man
(Moses 6:57). The
title Man of Holiness opens us to a deeper understanding of Deity. We
believe that God the
Father is an exalted man, a corporeal being, a personage of flesh and
bones.

That God has a physical body is one of the most
important of all truths
restored in this dispensation; it is inextricably tied to such
doctrines as the
immortality of the soul, the literal resurrection, eternal marriage,
and the continuation
of the family unit into eternity. In his corporeal or physical nature,
God can be in only
one place at a time. His divine nature is such, however, that his
glory, his power, and
his influence, meaning his Holy Spirit, fills the immensity of space
and is the means by
which he is omnipresent and through which law and light and life are
extended to us (see
D&C 88:6-13).

The Father's physical body does not limit his capacity
or detract one wit
from his infinite holiness, any more than Christ's resurrected body did
so (see Luke 24;
John 20-21). Interestingly enough, research by Professor David Paulsen
of our Philosophy
department indicates that the idea of God's corporeality was taught in
the early Christian
church into the fourth and fifth centuries, before being lost to the
knowledge of the
people.

On the one hand, we worship a divine Being with whom we
can identify. That
is to say, his infinity does not preclude either his immediacy or his
intimacy. "In
the day that God created man," the scriptures attest, "in the likeness
of God
made he him; in the image of his own body, male and female, created he
them" (Moses
6:8-9). God is not simply a spirit influence, a force in the universe,
or the First Great
Cause; when we pray "Our Father which art in heaven" (Matthew 6:9), we
mean what
we say. We believe God is comprehendable, knowable, approachable, and,
like his Beloved
Son, touched with the feeling of our infirmities (Hebrews 4:15).

On the other hand, our God is God. There is no
knowledge of which the
Father is ignorant and no power he does not possess (1 Nephi 7:12; 2
Nephi 9:20; Mosiah
4:9; Alma 26:35; Helaman 9:41; Ether 3:4). Scriptural passages that
speak of him being the
same yesterday, today, and forever (e.g., Psalm 102:27; Hebrews 1:12;
13:8; 1 Nephi
10:18-19; 2 Nephi 27:23; Alma 7:20; Mormon 9:8-11, 19; Moroni 8:18;
10:7; D&C 3:2;
20:12, 17; 35:1) clearly have reference to his divine attributes-his
love, justice,
constancy, and willingness to bless his children.

In addition, President Joseph Fielding Smith explained
that"From
eternity to eternity means from the spirit existence through the
probation which we are
in, and then back again to the eternal existence which will follow.
Surely this is
everlasting, for when we receive the resurrection, we will never die .
We all existed in
the first eternity. I think I can say of myself and others, we are from
eternity; and we
will be to eternity everlasting, if we receive the exaltation."

We come to the earth to take a physical body, be
schooled and gain
experiences in this second estate that we could not have in the first
estate, the
premortal life. We then strive to keep the commandments and grow in
faith and spiritual
graces until we are prepared to go where God and Christ are. Eternal
life consists in
being with God; in addition, it entails being like God. A study of
Christian history
reveals that the doctrine of the deification of man was taught at least
into the fifth
century by such notables as Irenaus, Clement of Alexandria, Justin
Martyr, Athanasius, and
Augustine.

Because we know that many plain and precious truths
were taken from the
Bible before it was compiled (1 Nephi 13:20-39; Preface to D&C 76),
we might not agree
with some of what was taught about deification by such Christian
thinkers, but it is clear
that the idea was not foreign to the people of the early church.

For that matter, no less a modern Christian theologian
than C.S. Lewis
recognized the logical and theological extension of being transformed
by Christ. "The
Son of God became a man," Lewis pointed out, "to enable men to become
sons of
God."

Further, Lewis has explained: "The command Be Ye
perfect is not
idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going
to make us into
creatures that can obey that command. He said (in the Bible) that we
were 'gods' and He is
going to make good his words.

If we let Him-for we can prevent Him, if we choose-He
will make the
feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, dazzling, radiant,
immortal creature,
pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as
we cannot now
imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly
(though, of
course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and
goodness. The process
will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for.
Nothing less. He
meant what He said.

"All men and women, like Christ, are made in the image
and likeness
of God (Genesis 1:27; Moses 2:27), and so it is neither robbery nor
heresy for the
children of God to aspire to be like God (Matthew 5:48; Philippians
2:6); like any parent,
our Heavenly Father would want his children to become and be all that
he is.

Godhood comes through overcoming the world through the
Atonement (1 John
5:4-5; Revelation 2:7, 11; D&C 76:51-60), becoming heirs of God and
joint-heirs with
Christ, who is the natural Heir (Romans 8:17; Galatians 4:7), and thus
inheriting all
things, just as Jesus inherits all things (1 Corinthians 3:21-23;
Revelation 21:7; D&C
76:55, 95; 84:38; 88:107). The faithful are received into the "church
of the
Firstborn" (Hebrews 12:23; D&C 76:54, 67, 94; 93:22), meaning they
inherit as
though they were the firstborn. In that glorified state we will be
conformed to the image
of the Lord Jesus (Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 15:49; 2 Corinthians
3:18; 1 John 3:2; Alma
5:14), receive his glory, and be one with him and with the Father (John
17:21-23;
Philippians 3:21).

Although we know from modern revelation that godhood
comes through the
receipt of eternal life (D&C 132:19-20), we do not believe we will
ever, worlds
without end, unseat or oust God the Eternal Father or his Only Begotten
Son, Jesus Christ;
those holy beings are and forever will be the Gods we worship.

Even though we believe in the ultimate deification of
man, I am unaware of
any authoritative statement in LDS literature that suggests that we
will ever worship any
being other than the ones within the Godhead. We believe in "one God"
in the
sense that we love and serve one Godhead, one divine presidency, each
of whom possesses
all of the attributes of Godhood (Alma 11:44; D&C 20:28).

In short, God is not of another species, nor is he the
great unknowable
one; he is indeed our Father in heaven. He has revealed a plan whereby
we might enjoy
happiness in this world and dwell with him and be like him in the world
to come.

Delivered at the weekly BYU
Devotional in the
Marriott Center February 3, 1998

Copyright 1998 Robert L.
Millet

by
Stephen E. Robinson

... the claim is made that
certain LDS doctrines are
so bizarre, so totally foreign to biblical or historical Christianity,
that they simply
cannot be tolerated. In terms of the LDS doctrines most often
criticized on these grounds,
however --the doctrine of deification and its corollary, the plurality
of gods--this claim
does not hold up to historical scrutiny. Early Christian saints and
theologians, later
Greek Orthodoxy, modern Protestant evangelists, and even C. S. Lewis
have all professed
their belief in a doctrine of deification. The scriptures themselves
talk of many
"gods" and use the term god in a limited sense for beings other than
the Father,
the Son, or the Holy Ghost. If this language is to be tolerated in
scripture and in
ancient and modern orthodox Christians without cries of "polytheism!"
then it
must be similarly tolerated in the Latter-day Saints. If scripture can
use the term gods
for nonultimate beings, if the early Church could, if Christ himself
could, then
Latter-day Saints cannot conceivably be accused of being outside the
Christian tradition
for using the same term in the same way.

Again, I am not arguing that the
doctrine is true,
although I certainly believe it is. I am only arguing that other
Christians of
unimpeachable orthodoxy have believed in deification long before the
Latter-day Saints
came along, and that it has been accepted and tolerated in them as part
of their genuine
Christianity. Fair play demands the same treatment for the Latter-day
Saints.

Critics of the Church claim that the LDS religion is blasphemous and
even Satanic
because we think we can become a god. They use Isaiah 14:12-14 in an
attempt to show that
wanting to be like God is satanic.

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of
the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst
weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend
into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit
also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I
will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most
High. (Isaiah 14:12-14)

When the critics make these claims, they never explain what LDS
doctrine really is.
Instead, they give a perverted version of LDS doctrine that Latter-day
Saints don't even
recognize as what they believe or are taught. We absolutely do not
believe that we will
ever be independent of God or no longer subject to Him. He will always
be our God. We do
not believe that we will take away His glory, but we only add to it by
following Christ.

Latter-day Saints believe that God is literally the Father of our
spirits. We believe
we lived in a pre-existence with Him. This pre-existence is another
subject, but it should
be understood we believe this, so that we can understand that God, in
being our Heavenly
Father, is not symbolic or figurative, it is literal.

The Bible tells us that God is the father of our spirits.
"Furthermore we have had
fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence:
shall we not much
rather be in subjection unto the FATHER OF SPIRITS, and live?" (Hebrews
12:9,
emphasis added). More than this, the Bible tells us we are the offspring
of our
Heavenly Father. "For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as
certain also
of your own poets have said, For WE ARE ALSO HIS OFFSPRING" (Acts
17:28, emphasis
added). Our physical bodies are the offspring of our mortal parents,
and God is the Father
of our spirits. Therefore, our spirits are the offspring of God in the
very same sense
that our bodies are the offspring of our earthly parents. The book of
Acts goes on to tell
us that since we are the offspring of God, God must be some type of
being which we are
similar to. "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought
not to think
that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art
and man's
device." (Acts 17:29) The doctrine of the Trinity as accepted by most
Christians
today is certainly based on the creeds, which are "man's device."

When the Bible tells us of our creation, we are told we were created
in the image of
God. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:"
(Genesis
1:26). If God is literally the Father of our spirits, making us
offspring of Him, then we
could be called gods ourselves. In fact, the Bible makes this very
declaration. "I
have said, YE ARE GODS; and all of you are children of the most High"
(Psalms 82:6,
emphasis added). Jesus Christ Himself said we were gods. "Jesus
answered them, Is it
not written in your law, I said, YE ARE GODS? If he called them gods,
unto whom the word
of God came, and THE SCRIPTURE CANNOT BE BROKEN;" (John 10:34-35,
emphasis added).
Notice that Christ pointed out that Psalm 82:6 was not a mistake, for
He added the phrase
"and the scripture cannot be broken" right after it, stressing
that it
was a fact and that its meaning could not be argued away.

Even though we can be called gods, we are not on the same level as
God the Father. We
are LIKE Him in that we have POTENTIAL. In other words, being his
children, we are in
essence gods in embryo, not equal to Him. In order to reach
that potential, there
is a transformation that we must go through. We cannot go through this
transformation
without Jesus Christ.

The Bible talks about this transformation. There were two trees in
the Garden of Eden.
"And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is
pleasant to the
sight, and good for food; the TREE OF LIFE also in the midst of the
garden, and the TREE
OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL" (Genesis 2:9, emphasis added). Adam and
Eve ate of the
tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which changed their state of innocence
to our
mortal condition we are in now. Once Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of
the tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil, our potentiality of becoming like our
Heavenly Father was made
manifest. "And the LORD God said, Behold, THE MAN IS BECOME AS ONE OF
US, to know
good and evil:" (Genesis 3:22, emphasis added). However, they also
transgressed when
they ate, and that would prevent mankind of reaching this full
potential, since no unclean
thing can enter heaven. To prevent mankind from living eternally in
this less than full
potential state, God evicted Adam and Eve from the Garden and made
it impossible for
them to eat of the Tree of Life. "So he drove out the man; and he
placed at the east
of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every
way, to keep the
way of the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24). Once the fruit of the Tree of
Life is eaten,
then we would live in whatever condition our life has brought us to.
Therefore, it is
reserved for those who reach their full potential, or in other words,
those who overcome.
"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches; TO HIM
THAT OVERCOMETH WILL I GIVE TO EAT OF THE TREE OF LIFE, which is in the
midst of the
paradise of God" (Revelation 2:7, emphasis added). Those who overcome
are
those who have obeyed the Lord. "Blessed are they that DO HIS
COMMANDMENTS, that they
may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates
into the city"
(Revelation 22:14, emphasis added). Among the things that we have been
commanded to do is
to have the proper ordinances performed (baptism, marriage for
eternity, priesthood
ordination, etc.), and repent. Without all this, we cannot reach this
potential to become
a god.

The Bible also tells us that we can be "one" in the very same
sense
that Christ and His Father are "one." Now, if God the Father is God,
and Jesus
Christ is God, and we can be one with them, then we have the potential
to be a god
ourselves. A God has glory and is perfect. Glory and perfection are two
attributes that
make a God. Christ, when He prayed to His Father, prayed for this very
thing, that we
might receive glory, and be perfect "even as we."

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also
which shall believe on me through their word; THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE;
AS THOU, FATHER, ART IN ME, AND I IN THEE, THAT THEY ALSO MAY BE ONE IN
US: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And THE GLORY
WHICH THOU GAVEST ME I HAVE GIVEN THEM; that they may be one, even as
we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that THEY MAY BE MADE PERFECT in
one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved
them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:20-23, emphasis added)

To what extent is this glory that we have the opportunity to obtain?
The Bible is quite
clear that it is the FULNESS of God that we might have. "And to know
the love of
Christ, which passeth knowledge, THAT YE MIGHT BE FILLED WITH ALL THE
FULNESS OF GOD"
(Ephesians 3:19, emphasis added). But does this "fullness" really have
anything
to do with the very nature of being a god? It most certainly does.
"According as his
divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and
godliness, through
the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby
are given unto us
exceeding great and precious promises: that by these YE MIGHT BE
PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE
NATURE, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust" (2 Peter
1:3-4, emphasis added).

The Bible continues to explain that as children, we have the
opportunity to inherit
everything the Father has. "He that overcometh shall INHERIT ALL
THINGS; and I will
be his God, and he shall be my son" (Rev. 21:7, emphasis added). The
Bible clarifies
this inheritance. It tells us that we will inherit the very same thing
that Jesus Christ
inherits from the Father. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the
sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear; but ye have
received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The
Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit, that WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD: AND IF
CHILDREN, THEN HEIRS;
HEIRS OF GOD, AND JOINT-HEIRS WITH CHRIST; if so be that we suffer with
him, THAT WE MAY
BE ALSO GLORIFIED TOGETHER. For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us"
(Romans 8:14-18,
emphasis added). In fact, the Bible tells us that we may have thrones
just like the Son
and the Father. "To him that overcometh will I grant to SIT WITH ME IN
MY THRONE,
even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne"
(Rev. 3:21,
emphasis added).

Besides the nature and characteristics of godhood, we are told that
our bodies will be
just like God’s body. "Who shall change our vile body, that IT
MAY BE FASHIONED
LIKE UNTO HIS GLORIOUS BODY, according to the working whereby he is
able even to subdue
all things unto himself" (Phil. 3:21, emphasis added). Though we may
not fully
understand this, it will become apparent when Christ returns for the
second coming.
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what
we shall be:
but we know that, when he shall appear, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM; for we
shall see him as he
is" (1 John 3:2, emphasis added).

No true Christian would deny that God is perfect. We have been
commanded to be like Him
in this respect as well. "Be ye therefore perfect, EVEN AS YOUR FATHER
which is in
heaven is perfect" (Matt. 5:48, emphasis added).

Faithful Latter-day Saints recognize that we can only inherit all
things if we are
married for eternity. We believe that this principle, which is
ridiculed by critics of the
Church, is also taught by the Bible. "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with
them
according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker
vessel, and as
BEING HEIRS TOGETHER of the grace of life; that your prayers be not
hindered" (1
Peter 3:7, emphasis added). Latter-day Saints are taught that only
those who are married
for eternity can fully be heirs of all that the Father has. Only a God
can have spirit
children of their own. Thus, the cycle continues, as does our
relationship with our
Heavenly Father. Why do you think marriage is such a sacred subject in
the scriptures? It
is not a coincidence that our earthly marriage is a step in preparation
for us to reach
our full potential of becoming as God.